We’re all on a quest to find purpose in our lives. We believe that purpose is found by living a generous life. When you give your life away, you begin to find it. Or as Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, “the purpose of life is to not to be happy. It is to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”

And, while we’re all struggling with this quest, what if the answer is that purpose isn’t found by doing more for ourselves but by doing more for others?

Just over a year ago, a few friends set out to solve a problem.

Your life is busy. Everywhere around us we see people in need. And, we want to help but don’t know how. In a world where we can do a doctor’s appointment from our cell phones, we still have no idea if someone two doors down from us has food to eat or clothes to wear.

So, we built Purposity.

Purposity finds those in need near you. School systems and non-profits in local communities let us know needs of individuals in your area, like an elementary school student who has holes in her shoes. Requests are vetted by both the partner organizations and through Purposity to assure they’re valid needs. And, all items ship directly to these organizations for distribution. It’s transparent, one-to-one giving in the easiest way imaginable-your phone.

Users of Purposity receive one text a week with a link to a need in their community. They read the story of the individual, see the price and can purchase the item from Amazon in under two minutes right from their phone. So far, Purposity users have met over 3,000 individual needs and there are plans to expand to other cities this fall.

And while community generally means local needs, Purposity users can also get involved when large tragedies or natural disasters strike. In those times, the entire nation becomes a community. When Hurricane Harvey hit, we deviated a bit from our norm by launching a two phased approach.

Phase 1 is short-term immediate help. Children were returning to schools that lost everything, so we began by helping rebuild classrooms lost in the flooding. Needs are coming in daily for classrooms in Houston. Phase two will be long- term efforts in Texas. We are partnering with organizations on-the-ground (our new friends in Austin, TX), to help individuals and families put their lives back together, essentially bringing you just one text away from rebuilding lives.

We would love you to join us in proving that humanity is good. Jump in on our relief efforts or sign up for a community that’s live today at www.purposity.com.

Purposity is a vision of seeing the world as it should be. It’s the quest to connect neighbors and communities around purpose. It’s you helping those around you. #liveonpurpose